Destroying Astrobiology Would Be a Disaster

摘要

Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. As part of that, it seeks to understand the origin of the building blocks of life, how these building blocks combine to create life, how life affects and is affected by the environment from which it arose, and finally, whether and how life expands beyond its planet of origin. It requires studying fundamental concepts of life and habitable environments that will help us to recognize biospheres that might be quite different from our own. This includes studying the limits of life, life's phylogeny and effects of the space environment on living systems. Such fundamental questions require long-term stable funding for the science community, and that means keeping the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the grants programs funded at healthy levels. The 50 percent cut in NASA's 2007 budget for astrobiology would be devastating.